No one in the Blue Jays clubhouse was surprised to see the hard-working Roy Halladay throw a perfect game for the Phillies.

In his daily pre-game media briefing, Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston mentioned that he had called former Toronto ace Roy Halladay to congratulate him on the perfect game he pitched Saturday night.

When Gaston pointed out that Halladay was too busy in the post-game frenzy to answer the call, a reporter joked that Halladay, a renowned fitness freak, was probably working out.

Everyone gathered in Gaston’s office cracked up but the joke wasn’t far from the truth.

The day after pitching the first perfect game of his career, Halladay, traded to Philadelphia last December, arrived at Miami’s Sun Life Stadium at 8:45 a.m., and had finished his morning workout before most of his Phillies teammates arrived.

In the Jays clubhouse, former teammates remember the relentless work ethic that made Halladay perhaps the greatest pitcher in franchise history. Over 12 seasons in Toronto, Halladay averaged 17 wins per season, made six all-star teams and won a Cy Young Award in 2003.

In 1998, Halladay came tantalizingly close to a perfect game in just his second pro start, retiring 26 Detroit Tigers before giving up a home run. When Halladay finally achieved the feat with the Phillies on Saturday night, his former colleagues were relieved and happy, but certainly not surprised.

“It’s great to see Doc finally throw one,” said right fielder Jose Bautista. “We all know he’s capable of doing it. He prepares for it. He’s a great guy, a great example for all of us.”

The game itself was vintage Halladay. He plowed through nine innings on just 115 pitches, striking out 11 Florida Marlins even though he’s not a known as a strikeout pitcher and driving his WHIP ratio down to a microscopic 0.99.

“He’s no-nonsense when it comes to the baseball season,” Gaston said. “He works hard. He works on his off-days.”

The ruthlessly efficient performance inspired pride in Toronto, where Sunday’s starter Ricky Romero referenced the example Halladay set while discussing his own complete-game lockdown of the Baltimore Orioles.

“There was a guy here that did it really, really well,” Romero said. “You try to learn from that.”

But instead of reminiscing about the Halladay era, Romero reminded reporters of the new reality in Toronto: Halladay wears a different uniform and could face the Jays when Toronto plays the Phillies in late June.

So while Romero had plenty of praise for Halladay, he’s also prepared to face his former teammate.

“I’m sure everyone in here is happy for Doc, but we’ve got to take care of our business,” he said. “He’s our enemy now.”

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